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."This one I've seen before, and wearing the trappings of the King don't change who and what it is.""Who?" Gary cried, growing even more agitated by Kelsey and Geno's continued disbelief, by their blank stares and by the fact that even sturdy Geno hardly seemed able to draw his breath."Ye've not seen it, but ye've heared it before, lad," Mickey answered."Suren it's the wild hairy haggis."14 What Price Victory?Flames sprouted from every tree, lifting their hissing voices in defiance of the drenching rain.All the edge of the forest was in turmoil, men rushing about, fires leaping high, bowstrings humming, as King Kinnemore gave his answer to the call for peace.Far from the brutal fighting, Prince Geldion sat despondently, his suspicions of his father's feelings for him apparently confirmed.Few prisoners sat in the field near the Prince, most of the soldiers having sworn fealty to the other side.Even now, many of Geldion's men were into the battle, fighting for the Tylwyth Teg, fighting against his father.It was, perhaps, the most bitter pill the troubled Prince had ever swallowed.And so the fighting that day was even more confusing, with elfs battling men, and men battling men.Diane, too, was at the front, simply refusing to be left behind again.She rode a white mare beside Gary and Kelsey, the elf leading a wild rush along the length of the battlefield, shouting for men to desert their unlawful King and come to the call of the spearwielder, the new Donigarten.In his shining suit of mail, atop the great stallion, the mighty spear raised high above him, Gary Leger certainly looked the part.But he did not feel the part, did not feel like the reincarnation of that legendary hero.Far from it.Gary had seen battles in Faerie before, had seen Geldion and a host of his knights battle a sea of goblins in Cowtangle.Indeed, Gary had been in battles, had killed the knight Redarm in single combat.And he had seen atrocities in his own world, on the increasingly graphic evening news, footage of war-torn countries and of the troubles in the cities of his own land.None of that prepared him for this vicious day in Tir na n'Og.The simple fury of the fight, the echoing cries of the dying, the ring of steel against steel, so commonplace that it sounded as one incessant and grating whine, assaulted his sensibilities.He gritted his teeth and rode on, determined to see it all through.This was not the time for weakness, he knew, though it truly revolted him that, in this time of battle, compassion and weakness were apparently one and the same.Diane was similarly horrified.She had brought both her cameras along, thinking to chronicle the battle.She took only one shot with the Polaroid, though.After that, she used the Pentax, knowing that she would not have to view the result of her handiwork for a long time, not until she and Gary got out of Faerie, at least, where she might get the film developed.That camera became Diane's salvation that horrible morning.Truly a paradox, it made her feel as though she was making an important contribution, while at the same time the camera allowed her to distance herself from the horrible scene.Somehow, watching a man cut down through the eye of a lens was not the same as witnessing it without the transparent barrier.The fighting went on all morning.With Kelsey leading, cutting a swath through enemy ranks, and with a growing group of Connacht turncoats swelling in the elfish ranks.Gary saw little personal fighting, Diane none at all.But they both were surely a part of that battle, as inevitably scarred as those who limped away from the action covered head to toe in blood�be it their own or the blood of slain enemies."We claim victory this day," Kelsey declared long after the bows had stopped humming and the swords were put away.The wails had not ended, though, cries of men and elfs grievously wounded, many still in the scarred area as Tylwyth Teg patrols cut their way through the destroyed tangle, using the screams to guide their steps."The enemy has been driven back to the fields, far from Tir na n'Og's borders," Kelsey went on determinedly, though it seemed to all who could hear that the elf-lord wept beneath his stern facade.Gary nodded grimly, though Diane looked away.She had not learned to accept what must be in Faerie.Geno, who had spent the day with Mickey as the sole guards over the prisoners, offered no response to the news of victory.The mountain dwarf was untrained in forest fighting, yet tough enough (and deadly enough with those flying hammers!) to keep the score of men on the field in line.He had been up front for some time now, and had seen the field and heard the results.More than three hundred Connacht soldiers lay dead in the woods, another fifty had been taken prisoner, and three score more had come over to the elfish ranks.But the price had been high.Nearly a hundred Tylwyth Teg were dead or wounded so badly that they would see no more fighting, and the southern border of Tir na n'Og, beautiful even to the dwarf who lived among the great boulders of Dvergamal, would be decades in recovering from the deep scars.By all accounts, the elfs had scored a victory by a margin of four to one, but Kinnemore could spare four hundred much easier than the Tylwyth Teg could spare one hundred.Kelsey claimed victory, yet his people had surely been decimated, their ranks nearly cut in half.Kelsey's enthusiasm at his proclamation could not withstand Geno's silent appraisal of the battle.The elf understood Geno's stake in the outcome of the fight for Tir na n'Og, and the dwarf's grim expression spoke volumes.Kelsey nodded and departed.A new envoy from Kinnemore was expected, now that the wicked King had made his statement with fire and sword.The elf took with him Diane's revealing photograph of their nemesis, and also took with him a grim determination.Kelsey had come to see the world as a larger place than Tir na n'Og.He believed in his heart that the Tylwyth Teg held responsibility for their neighbors' well-being.But Kelsey realized the devastation of this day, understood that this continuing battle was taking a brutal toll on both sides, and on the forest that served as the battlefield [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]